Food: Hot cross buns an Easter favourite

When I think about food served at Easter, there are a few things that come to mind immediately.

A sweet and salty ham, with a burnished glaze of honey and mustard. Then of course there are the requisite ham sandwiches. Thick slices of cold ham and a decent smear of yellow mustard nested between the halves of fluffy, white homemade buns. I also think of those dreadfully addictive pastel-coloured Mini Eggs and the achingly sweet Cadbury Cream Egg. One a year is all I need.

But Easter doesn’t really feel like Easter unless I’ve got hot cross buns in the house on Good Friday. I typically maintain a great distance between raisins and my mouth, but somehow when they are buried in this yeasted sweet bun, they are tolerable, if not enjoyable. The thick slab of salted butter on each half doesn’t hurt, either.

So why do we eat this lightly-spiced bun with the cross on it at Easter? Legend has it a 12th century monk baked some buns and marked them with a cross in honour of Good Friday. Their popularity swelled afterwards, eventually becoming a symbol of Easter weekend.

Towards the end of the 16th century, Queen Elizabeth I tried to curb their popularity, limiting the sale of hot cross buns to Good Friday, Christmas and funerals. Folks were in love with these soft, sweet buns and just baked them at home if they were unable to buy them, although if they were caught they had to give up all of the illegal buns on their premises to the poor. The law was eventually revoked and the popularity of hot cross buns skyrocketed.

The English were a superstitious lot, believing the buns carried magical and medicinal properties. Other legends include: hot cross buns hung in the kitchen are supposed to expel evil spirits, prevent kitchen fires from breaking out, and ensure that all breads baked that year will turn out absolutely delicious. Also, it was believed that taking hot cross buns on a voyage at sea gave the boat some protection from shipwreck.

My favourite legend about hot cross buns has it that those who share a hot cross bun are supposed to enjoy a strong bond and friendship for the next year. A line from an old rhyme captures this lore, “Half for you and half for me, between us two, good luck shall be.”

Making your own hot cross buns isn’t difficult, it just takes a bit of time like any yeasted bread product. A stand mixer fitted with a dough hook does most of the work, but if you like to knead the dough by hand, do so for about 10 minutes. Then it’s a series of letting the sweet dough rise for an hour, then shape it into buns and let them rise for an hour, then brush them with egg wash and bake them for about 15 minutes, until they are golden.

Let them cool down before piping that sweet vanilla icing cross on top. Slather the hot cross buns with butter and enjoy them with a cup of strong black tea while the little ones hunt for their baskets on Easter Sunday.

Hot Cross Buns

Buns:

1 cup warm milk (around 100*F)

1 Tbsp granulated sugar

1 envelope active dry yeast (2 ½ – 3 tsp)

3 cups all-purpose flour

⅓ cup granulated sugar

¾ tsp salt

1 ½ tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp ground ginger

½ tsp ground nutmeg

¼ tsp ground cloves

1 Tbsp orange zest

¼ cup melted unsalted butter

1 large egg

1 large egg white

¾ cup raisins

1 egg yolk

1 Tbsp water

Vanilla Glaze:

1 cup icing sugar

1 tsp vanilla

1-2 Tbsp milk

Add 1 Tbsp sugar into the warm milk, stirring until it dissolves. Sprinkle the yeast over the surface. Do not stir. Let the yeast bubble and froth for about five to eight minutes.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook, mix together the flour, sugar, salt, spices and orange zest.

Once the yeast has frothed, stir in the melted butter, egg, and egg white, then add this mixture to the flour.

Knead with the dough hook on medium-high speed for about five to seven minutes, until the dough is soft. If it’s too sticky, add 1 tablespoon of flour at a time. The finished dough should be smooth and pliable. When you take a small piece and stretch it, a small, thin “window” should appear. If it still tears, keep on kneading it to stretch the gluten.

Dump the dough onto a lightly floured work surface and knead the raisins in a little at a time by hand. Once they are well incorporated, place the dough in a lightly greased large bowl. Cover it with plastic wrap and place it in a warm place to rise for about 1 hour, or until it is doubled in size.

Punch the dough down and dump it onto a lightly floured surface. Using a sharp knife, cut it into 12 equal portions. Roll each portion into a ball and place on a parchment or Silpat lined baking sheet. Buns can also be placed in a greased 9 x 13-inch pan. Cover the buns with a clean kitchen towel and let them rise for another hour, or until they have doubled in size.

Preheat the oven to 375F.

Whisk together the egg yolk and water. Brush the buns with the egg wash. Place on a rack in the lower third of the oven and bake for 15 to 18 minutes, until golden brown. Remove the buns from the oven and let cool on a wire rack.

Place the icing sugar in a medium bowl and stir in enough milk to form a stiff icing – thick enough to pipe. Scrape the icing into a small piping bag fitted with a round tip, or you can also cut the corner of a resealable plastic bag and use that as your piping bag. Pipe crosses on all of the buns. Makes 12 hot cross buns.

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